OOC The two adventures seem to conclude. Feel free to wrap up loose ends in character, but I think we can proceed. Summer 1014 adventure has a source quality of 10 (substantial story with useful information gain, but rather uncertain outcome). One confidence for Elric, Thadeus , and the cat, and two confidence points each for the adventurers + one point for each memorable scene as approved on discord.
Towards the end of summer, everybody (I assume) return to Ungulus. You have a lot to discuss. The adventures have left a lot of loose ends and potential enemies and allies, as well as mysterious sites and artifacts. Do you want to follow any of them up further? The chapterhouse location does not make itself. How do you want to deal with it? Anything else you need to do? The magi have to convene a council meeting.
OOC There will be no stories for Autumn and Winter, but those you initiate yourselves. That means that you can plan your individual downtimes in parallel with the council meeting, which we will have to play out of the timeline. It takes place over the course of the two seasons. Something will happen in Spring, and more if you take initiative. Plans should be posted in the log thread (liaise with @John_Graham_52 ) if required, but conflicts should be resolved here.
Just when the magi are settling back in at home, Arlaine returns to Thadeus to introduce three new hunter-friends. They are scruffy after months living in the hills, but polite enough.
All we have wanted for the last two years is a stable home.
Thadeus meets with the three, along with Edwin, "You are welcome to join us, friends. As Arlaine probably told you already, we will expect good work and loyalty from you. In exchange, we offer a safe and stable home, with a decent place to sleep and food on the table, as well as access to all the services that the community offers. We even have a good healer, should you get injured or sick."
He lets Edwin explain the rules of the place, and explain what the covenant will provide them in exchange for their work.
Late in the summer, Vulture-Thom flies into Ungulus the same day as the others, landing atop the newest of the conjured towers. With a flurry of his big dark wings, he transforms back into his usual form: a strikingly handsome blond young man, six-fingered, and naked as the day he was born.
"We're back!" calls out the young Merinita, full of enthusiasm and energy as he starts down the stairs of the tower. He waves to servants and grogs as he comes bounding down the stairs and out into the covenant proper, unclothed, with his Curse of Venus on display for all to see.
"What did we miss? Anything exciting happen while we were away?!"
It takes the young faerie-blooded man a few moments to recognize the stares, the chuckles behind hands, the averted eyes and the ogling ones.
"Oh, yes. That."
With a curving turn of his six-fingered hands and the lilting tenor of his voice, he attempts a spell. [Fat Spont CrHe L10 Roll: 24/2=12. Finesse roll 6, standard quality]. And with that, he's wearing a rather simple, linen tunice that extends down to his knees, long-sleeved.
Elric is stunned by the appearance of this naked man walking out of the tower, while he was coming back from a late breakfast, and wondering where he came from, but it seems that others in the covenant aren't too shocked, so he must be someone they know, though from their looks, most of them probably didn't know him in all of his glory...
After He has magically clothed himself, Elric approaches "Salve Sodale, my name is Elric of Bonisagus, and I am a new arrival to this fine covenant. I do not believe I've seen you before."
During the Winter, Elric sorts the Diedne Box 1. This is exceedingly tricky, because the magus has used a shorthand combining Latin and Celtic. Knowing the right Celtic¹, they can be translated as normal, but without it, one would be at a penalty.
There seems to be a lot of Terram spells, as one would expect from a magus living underground, quite a few of them martial. By the drawings, you have the lab texts for the enchanted items in the lab. The total volume seems to be a little smaller than Frederic's.
¹ I do not think Elric can tell the difference between p- and q-Celtic
Elric doesn't like to bring up his parens name, due to the bad conotations it had, but then something about the man seemed familiar. "My parens was Balder of Bonisagus, from Castrum Antiquum. And yours?"
Thom quite literally jumps into the air as he hears Elric's words!
"What!? Elric? Yes, yes, yes!"
The Merinita's enthusiasm boils over and he runs at Elric with his arms wide open, giving the Bonisagus a huge bear hug (unless of course, Elric pushes him away). He then steps back.
"It's you! You survived! You're alive!"
Tears begin to run down Thom's handsome face, emotions of joy and relief that someone from his old covenant survived.
"I'm Thom! Thom Myddleton! Balder trained me too, remember, in that weird fosterage thing arranged with Mildred! You're alive! I can't believe it!"
Thom turns to the covenfolk and anyone who would listen and calls out:
"It's Elric! From Castrum Antiquum! He's alive!"
Thom then yells out loud across the covenant common. "Cath'rinne! Betula! Sionag! Come quick! It's Elric! You have to meet him! He is so smart!"
Elric is too taken aback to give a response, or to do anything but stand there when Thom's hands engulf him. "Thom?! I... I'm sorry, I didn't manage to save any of them." While Thom's joy at meeting him is evident, it did flood up the feelings of him being helpless. But he regains some of his composure "I have heard vague rumors you're still alive, but I didn't want to get my hopes too high."
"I just passed my Gauntlet before they've struck, so I was a bit away when it was attacked. When I got back the atatck was over, and I couldn't find anyone alive, so I fled south, and hid. In fact, I've arrived here just at the end of summer."
"Are you going to stay? Please say that you will! You could do so much for us! I'm going to set up a lab in the Oak Circle, I think, but with my vulture spell, I can fly back and forth for visits," says Thom in the racing lilt of words that often flow from him.
"There should be plenty of room in the towers! Have you met Master Janus? He's the real deal. The Diedne fear him. And the half-giant. Hamish? The turb captain? I think he put out the eye of a giantess in a castle on a cloud!"
Elric smiles, Thom's enthusiasm catching on "Yes, I have met with Janus, though it was Thadeus that welcomed me. I do, of course plan to stay, even more so now that I know you're a member. Thadeus gave me a token, and has shown me a lab I can make my own. Am starting to lay it out now."
"I didn't see any evidence of him surviving, but I wouldn't put it past him to have found a use for one of the items he purloined to try and escape." The answer was given matter-of-factly, as if it's been long rehearsed.
"But... you're here!" The bounce back in his voice. "That is so good. Did I tell you I saw a giant too? Not the one that Hamish stabbed in the eye. This one was walking north past the Wall when I came out to make my way."